Davis, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, has progressed from a slender 212-pound rookie to an all-star starter in just his third year.

Noel was projected be the No. 1 pick in 2013 if he hadn't torn his ACL (he went sixth to the Pelicans before being traded to the Sixers in the Jrue Holiday deal) and ended up sitting out his first pro season.

The 215-pound Noel got a pretty good idea how far he has to go during the 8-37 Sixers' 99-74 road loss to the Pelicans on Monday night.

Matched up for much of their 31 minutes on the court, the now-240-pound Davis dominated Noel in every statistical category — scoring (32 points to 2), rebounds (10 to 6), blocks (4 to 2), steals (3 to 0) and shooting (12-for-19 to 1-for-9).

"I think he wanted so bad to play well against Anthony Davis and I think it carried over to some of his decisions," coach Brett Brown told reporters. "The game and the environment just got the better of him."

Noel told the media he might have been too hyped up to face Davis, who he worked out with for a stretch during Noel's one year at Kentucky.

"I probably should have slowed my mind down," Noel said. "I was thinking about the game too much. I have to do a better job coming into a game with a better mindset. I wasn't as active as I should have been."

Brown said Noel's rookie stats "measure up quite well, actually, with the projected path" of Davis.

The 20-year-old Noel has more steals than Davis did as a first-year pro (1.5 to 1.2), but Davis' other rookie numbers are better across the board — scoring (13.5 to 8.0), rebounds (8.2 to 7.3), blocks (1.8 to 1.6) and field goal percentage (51.6 to 42.7).

The 21-year-old Davis has improved markedly from year to year, to the point where he's one of the NBA's top big men. He's averaging 24.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, a league-leading 2.9 blocks, 1.7 steals and shooting 55.6 percent, and the fans voted him a starter for the Western Conference in the Feb. 15 all-star game (he was a reserve a season ago).

Davis consistently has an impact on and controls games, while Noel tends to be up and down with both his production and energy level.

Blend what the athletic Davis can do with his additional weight/strength to his increased confidence and it's "a lethal combination," as Brown put it.

"I feel like Nerlens can learn from that," Brown said. "He's just a stud, one of those rare cornerstones of a program that you can build all around. He's just really one of the elite pieces of the league. Any time we play him, it's always a fantastic example for Nerlens."

The two teams won't play again until next season, since this was their second meeting (Davis sat out the Sixers' Jan. 16 win with a toe injury).

By 2015-16, the Sixers' plan is to pair Noel with 7-foot center Joel Embiid, who could miss this entire year with a foot stress fracture.

MCW status unclear

Brown said after the game that he wasn't sure if point guard Michael Carter-Williams would be back Wednesday evening against the visiting Pistons after sitting out the loss to the Pelicans with an upper respiratory infection.

Larry Drew II, who signed a second 10-day contract earlier in the day, made his first NBA start filling in for MCW and had four points on 2-for-9 shooting, five rebounds, two assists and four turnovers in the defeat. Undrafted rookie forward JaKarr Sampson again served as the backup point.

Change of plans

The projected snowstorm resulted in the Sixers staying in New Orleans overnight instead of taking their customary charter flight home after the game.